1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to quenching apparatus, and more particularly to quenching apparatus for tempering a curved glass plate by means of blown air.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the manufacture of a tempered curved glass plate, a glass plate is initially heated to the softening point temperature thereof in order to facilitate bending the same under dead weight conditions. It is also usual to press a glass plate in order to form a curved glass plate and to quench the glass plate by ejecting quenching air upon its surfaces which are maintained at temperatures higher than the bending temperature so as to quench and temper the same.
Within such manufacturing processes, it is usual to use a quenching apparatus for ejecting quenching air wherein blower head devices having a large number of nozzles thereon are arranged with a predetermined gap or space defined above and below the curved glass plate so as to uniformly quench the same depending upon the curvature of the curved glass plate. Moreover, it is usual to employ quenching apparatus for manufacturing a partially tempered glass plate having blower head devices wherein nozzles are also arranged in a predetermined pattern so as to impart different cooling and degrees of temper thereto.
Full surface tempered curved glass plates and partially tempered curved glass plates are utilized as window glass plates for cars, airplanes and other vehicles especially for the front, rear, and door windows thereof. The size and shape of particular glass plates are different depending upon the types of windows, and accordingly, it has been necessary to exchange the upper and lower blower head devices so as to correspond to the size and shape of the particularly required curved glass plate. It has therefore been necessary to prepare many types of quenching apparatus for the curved glass plates having various sizes and shapes, and thus, high tooling and maintenance costs are required for the manufacture and maintenance of the various quenching apparatus. Moreover, it is necessary to prepare the cooling apparatus for full surface tempering and partial tempering, and thus, further costs are also required.